Exercise with Angie: Sore muscles normal after workout

Muscle soreness after a workout is clinically known as DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness. This muscle soreness is that distinctive aching, stiffness and tenderness that most of us experience a day or two after an unfamiliar or particularly taxing workout.

The cause of DOMS as described on Wikipedia as "the soreness caused by eccentric exercise, or exercise consisting of eccentric (lengthening) contractions of the muscle. Isometric (static) exercise causes much less soreness; concentric (active shortening) exercise causes none."

This is much easier to understand if we consider the differences in running and riding a bike.

When we run, our body weight is unsupported and our feet strike the ground with each step. In turn, the joints through the lower body as well as the back, pelvis, knees and ankles must absorb six to 10 times our bodyweight with each step before propelling us forward again. Our leg muscles eccentrically load (muscles elongate under force with each step we take), which is why you may feel DOMS in your back, thighs, calves and gluteus muscles days later.

During a cycle or spinning workout, our bodies are supported by bikes and, therefore, our legs are only ever contracting concentrically (active shortening - we never fully extend the legs) as we push the pedals, never absorbing our body weight, significantly reducing the likelihood of DOMS in subsequent days.

DOMS results from a combination of unaccustomed muscle contraction and poor motor neuron recruitment. In untrained individuals or athletes who have taken a layoff from training, these two factors are prevalent, and they usually experience the most severe cases of DOMS, even if the exercise is relatively mild and low in intensity.

Seasoned athletes who don't vary their training stimulus regularly are likely to develop excellent motor neuron recruitment and become extremely accustomed to the specific stresses required by their sports. This is why veteran runners no longer experience DOMS even after a vigorous training session. Their bodies are accustomed to the workload, and they have developed excellent motor neuron recruitment.

Beginners experiencing DOMS should be wary, understanding that the intensity and duration of the DOMS usually reflects the stress you applied to your body. If too much stress is applied to an untrained body, there is only one outcome - injury.

If you are just beginning a training program, you likely will experience DOMS. However two or three days later, you should feel energetic, pain-free and ready to exercise again. If you are nursing soreness for longer than three days, you may want to reduce your training load during your initial adaptation to training.

Experienced athletes should understand that they will not necessarily experience DOMS, and that's OK. This indicates a positive response to training load and is a good indication that your body is adapting accordingly.

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Exercise with Angie: Sore muscles normal after workout

Muscle soreness after a workout is clinically known as DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness.